Door closure



Oct. 29, 1968 A. URBANICK DOOR CLOSURE Filed July 21, 1967 Inventor vBurton A. U-rbonick C wzhw; M919? Attorney United States Patent3,407,537 DOOR CLOSURE Burton A. Urbanick, La Grange, 11]., assignor toMet-L- Wood Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois FiledJuly 21, 1967, Ser. No. 655,068 9 Claims. (Cl. 49-483) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A closure seal is provided between a pair of sliding doors ofa railroad car or the like by mating male and female members aflixed torespective abutting ends of the doors. The female member has a taperedreceiving aperture and the male member has a pair of shoulder abutmentsseparated by a narrowed, stepped nose portion which serves to initiallyalign the two members without binding of the doors, etc. Bottoming ofthe nose portion in the base of the female member provides individualhermetic seals between the two members at three spaced points, namely,at the nose and the two shoulder abutments.

Introduction The present invention relates to all-door railroad cars orthe like in which sliding doors are to abut in a herrnetically sealedrelationship and, more particularly, to new and improved means foreffecting such end closure seals.

Summary of the invention It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide a new and improved end closure seal for adjacentsliding doors of a railroad car or the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sliding doorend closure seal in which a male and female member are initially guidedinto sealing relation by a narrow elongated nose of the male member andin which bottoming of the nose portion in the female member 10- catesthe members for sealing at three distinct points therebetween.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a pairof sealing members as above described in which opposed tapered portionson the male member between the respective abutments and the stepped noseeffect a secondary forced alignment of the closure members.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to railroad cars or the likewherein sliding doors are provided with closure seals between theirabutting ends. Specifically, there is provided a female member afiixedalong an end of one of the doors and having a tapered receiving channel.A male member is affixed to an adjacent door and is provided with a pairof shoulder abutments spaced one from the other by a steppedintermediate nose portion which serves to initially guide the doors intosealing alignment and upon bottoming of the nose in the receivingaperture three distinct sealing points are established respectively atsaid shoulder portions and the leading edge of said nose portion.

Brief description of the drawings The features of the present inventionwhich are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in theappended claims. The invention together with further objects andadvantages thereof may best be understood, however, with reference tothe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in the several figures of which like reference numeralsidentify like elements and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view, in section,

3,497,537. Patented Oct. 29, 1968 Description of the preferredembodiment Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown an alldoor railroadcar generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and having a seriesof doors 12 defining a portion of one sidewall of the railroad car.Specifically, sliding doors 12 are mounted along a guide track (notshown) between a forward bulkhead 14 and a door locking mechanismgenerally designated by numeral 15. Locking mechanism 15 is providedwith an opening handle 16 for releasing an L-shaped locking arm 17 toallow doors 12 to be slid, either individually or as a group, alongtheir guide track toward rear bulkhead 19 to thereby open a selectedlarge portion of the car for easy access in loading or unloading.

A second series of doors are slidably positioned in a guide track (notshown) outwardly but adjacent. the guide track for doors 12. Only afragmentary view of doors 21 is provided in the drawing but it is to beunderstood that the doors are similar in number and construction todoors 12 and are likewise slidably moveable towards opposite bulkhead 14upon disengagement of locking mechanism 15.

The opposite side of railroad car 10 is also provided with two series ofsliding doors, respectively designated by reference numerals 23 and 24,which are horizontally slidable along adjacent, parallel, guide tracks(not shown) upon release *of an intermediate locking mechanism 26. Onthe other hand, closure of the respective locking mechanisms 15 and 26applies horizontal axial forces to the respective doors of each seriesto forcibly interlock the doors in a hermetically sealed relationship asis required to protect the contents of the railroad car. One pair ofclosure members sealing adjacent vertical ends of a pair of doors 23 aredesignated by the numerals 27 and 28 in FIGURE 1. It is understood thatall of the closures between adjacent railroad car doors as well as endseals between a door and an associated bulkhead are similar and,preferably, all of closure members 27 and 28 are formed of extrudedaluminum.

An exploded view of FIGURE 2 depicts doors 23 with their end closuremembers disposed in sealed relation. Specifically, female member 27there visible is provided with a tapered receiving aperture foraccepting a male member 28 and, as will be discussed in more detaillater herein, three separate sealing points exist there between with theportions of the members intermediate the sealing points being in spacedrelation to one another. As also shown, both members 27 and 28 haverearwardly extending leg portions which define vertical receivingchannels for respective end portions of doors 23, these channelsserving, in conjunction with the rivets, screws or the like, to mount orafiix the closure members to vertical ends of the doors. As is also moreclearly visible in this figure, the closure members between others ofdoors 23 are indeed identical except that a female member 29 is mountedin abutted relation to bulkhead 14 rather than having a receivingchannel.

Referring now additionally to FIGURES 3 and 4, it is seen that femalemember 27 has an elongated tapered receiving aperture which terminatesin an arcuate base portion 30 joining the opposite legs of the taperedsidewalls. Rearwardly extending legs 31 and 32 of member 27 define anelongated receiving channel 27a of a U-shaped crosssection for acceptingthe entire vertical end of one of doors 23. Shallow recesses defininglines running the length of the member are provided in the outersurfaces of each of its legs 31 and 32 for locating the bit of a pilotdrill or point of a self-drilling, self-tapping sheet metal screw infastening the legs to an associated door. On the inside surface of eachleg and in registration with these elongated exterior recesses, thereare provided surface depressions 35 and 36 which receive a caulking orsealing compound to preclude moisture from reaching the area adjacentthe fastening screws. This prevents entrance of moisture in the metalfaced wood doors at those points where the fasteners penetrate itsprotected or coated surface. Recesses 39 and 40, likewise running thelength of the channel, are provided at the root of each of legs 31 and32 in the web formed between these legs and the adjacent back wall ofthe channel. Recesses 39 and 49 receive a bead of adhesive sealant orsimilar waterproof caulking to protect against the adverse effects ofmoisture on the doors. To promote a clamping or gripping action of thedoor by spaced legs 31 and 32, the interior leg 32 is provided with aslight inward taper as it progresses outwardly toward its free end.

Male closure member 28 is also provided with a pair of rearwardlyextending legs 53 and 54 which, like legs 31 and 32 of member 27,provide an elongated channel 28a for receiving the vertical end of anassociated sliding door. Legs 53 and 54 are provided with exteriorgrooves for indexing fastening screws or the like in a positioncentrally disposed over internal depressions in the legs which receive aprotective caulking or sealing compound. The construction of leg members53 and 54 for mating with the railroad car door is identical to thatpreviously described for legs 31 and 32 of member 2'7 and, in thisregard, legs 53 and 54 are also provided with shallow elongated recessesin their webbed interior corners for receiving a bead of caulkingcompound for sealing and protecting the door.

As previously stated, female member 27 is adapted to mate with the malemember 28 to effect a three-point hermetic seal between adjacent slidingdoors of the car. It has been found that the three-point seal of thepresent invention provides a more positive and reliable closure sealthan do the various arrangements of the prior art. To effect such athree-point seal, member 28 (FIGURES and 6) is provided with a pair ofabutment shoulders 42 and 43 respectively adjacent its inner andoutermost surfaces. Intermediate these abutments there is provided astepped nose portion 45 which is considerably narrower than thereceiving aperture of member 2'7. Nose portion 45 serves to initiallyguide members 27 and 28 into a preliminary mated relationship withoutbinding or mislocation of the doors. A secondary and forced alignment ofthe doors is provided by a pair of intermediate tapered sections 48 and49 which join respective abutments 42 and 43 to stepped nose portion 45.Tapered portions 48 and 49 match the contour of the female receivingaperture and can be slightly larger than the aperture to forceablyeffect an axial alignment between the adjacent doors. Movement of malemember 28 into the tapered receiving channel of the female membercontinues until the arcuate surface of nose portion 45 bottoms againstthe precisely complementary curvature of base 30 of the female receivingaperture. At this point, three independent seals are perfected betweenthe surfaces of the female receiving aperture, respectively contiguousabutments 42 and 43 and the arcuate surface of nose portion 45. As seenin FIGURE 2, stepped nose portion 45 is spaced from the sidewalls of thereceiving aperture along a wall area intermediate the three sealingpoints thereby defining a pair of gaps 51 and 52. Thus, the steppedconstruction not only provides a preliminary friction-free mating of theclosure members but also defines a pair of separate drainage channels 51and 52 for moisture in the vent of a defective seal at the outershoulder abutment or in the event water enters from the top edge of theclosure.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described, it is apparent that various changes and modifications maybe made, and it is therefore intended in the following claimsto coverall such modifications and changes as may fall within the true spiritand scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a railroad car or the like having sliding doors moveable along aguide track, a closure seal construction for abutting ends of said doorscomprising: 7

a female member aflixed to one of said abutting door ends and having atapered receiving channel;

a male member aifixed to the other of said abutting door ends and havinga pair of spaced shoulder abutments separated by an intermediatestepped, nose portion with said nose portion serving to initially guidesaid male member into said female member;

said male member establishing, in conjunction with said female member, athree-point closure seal between said members respectively at saidshoulder abutments and at a leading edge of said nose portion with saidmembers between said sealed points being in a predetermined spacedrelation;

said sealing being effected as said nose portion bottoms in saidaperture of said female member.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which both said male andfemale members have a pair of spaced unitary legs extending oppositelyfrom the mating portions thereof and defining U-shaped receivingchannels for respective ones of said door ends.

3. The combination according to claim 2 in which said shoulder abutmentsand said stepped nose portion are separated by respective intermediateportions having a taper corresponding to that of said female member foreffecting a secondary forced alignment of said members subsequent toinitial alignment thereof by said nose portion.

4. The combination according to claim 3 in which said tapered receivingchannel of said female member has an arcuate base portion for joiningthe tapered walls thereof and in which said nose member has a likearcuate curvature for mating with said female base portion in a sealedrelation.

5. The combination according to claim 4 in which said spaced portions ofsaid male and female members intermediate said closure seals define twoseparate moisture drainage channels.

6. The combination according to claim 4 in which one of said elongatedlegs of each of said male and female members is tapered slightly towardits associated leg as said leg progresses outwardly toward its free endfor providing a clamping action to securely grip said respective doorends.

7. The combination according to claim 6 in which each of said elongatedlegs of said male and female members is adapted to receive a series offasteners on predetermined lines therealong for fixedly holding saidmembers to said respective door ends and in which said leg members areeach construed to have shallow recesses in their interior surfaces inregistration with said predetermined lines for receiving a sealingcompound to preclude penetration of moisture to the portions of saiddoors contiguous said fasteners.

8. The combination according to claim '7 in which a shallow, generallyU-shaped recess is provided adjacent the fixed end of each of saidelongated legs for receiving a moisture sealing compound.

9. The combination according to claim 8 in which said male and femalemembers each consist of one piece extruded aluminum and said doorsconsist of metal bonded to wood.

(References on following page) 6 References Cited 2,133,199 10/ 1938Kammerer 49-488 2,611,937 9/1952 Kendrick 49488 UNITED STATES PATENTS2,915,115 12/1959 Reynolds 160-84 975,337 11/1910 Dumont 49483 1 83 7939/192 Nyman 49 483 X 5 DAV WILLIAMOW KY, Przmary Examiner.

2,121,826 6/1938 Roberts 49488 X P. C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner.

